Memory Timings

Mycophiles · 01-12-2008, 04:08 PM

I'd like to check my memory timeings on my computer because I read during my research for this MB and RAM that the timings default differently than what the timings for the ram should be.

The problem is that my MB doesn't have any way of viewing or changing the memory timings. Is there a third party software that does that?

Thanks

**mattlock** · 01-12-2008, 04:16 PM

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Download and run CPUz. Once it's running go to the memory tab to see your current timings.

You would need to enter the BIOS change the memory timings. If you set the timings to tight it will lead to system instability or even a failure to POST. If this occurs simply clear the CMOS, then enter BIOS, load and save the setup defaults.

Mycophiles · 01-12-2008, 07:14 PM

Thanks for the reply.

I have Crucial Ballistic Ram that has a Cas Latency of 4 and the timing is 4-4-4-12.

The CpuZ proggy you directed me to shows that my Cas Latency is set to 5 and the timing.. if thats the 4 numbers below that are set to 5-5-18-24.

I think this not good. I'm going to go into bios to check things out but I doubt I'll change anything till I get a bit more of a handle on this. Any advice is welcome.

BTW: This Ram = Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel

**mattlock** · 01-12-2008, 08:35 PM

4-4-4-12 Timing would read as follows:
CAS = 4
RAS to CAS delay = 4
RAS Precharge = 4
TRAS = 12

It not uncommon for RAM to recognized at higher timings than rated. In your case,
5-5-5-18
CAS = 5
RAS to CAS delay = 5
RAS Precharge = 5
TRAS = 18

You can go into the BIOS and manually set the timings. If you have a motherboard that allows you to adjust such things. Most retail PCs don't (I.E HP, Gateway, Dell, etc).

You might also need to bump the vdimm up a tad bit, but don't exceed 2.1v

What motherboard do you have? (Make and Model) Once I have that info I can download the manual and give more specific instruction.

Also post a link to the RAM you have if you can.

Mycophiles · 01-12-2008, 08:53 PM

Heh... I was stupid. Let me tell you about it.

First of all I have this motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131174

and I have this ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146565

I went into the bios and the settings for the sdram were set to DDR2 800.
I looked at the LDT Bus frequency and it was set to auto. I thought this would be the memory frequency so I set it to 400mhz.

I rebooted and it wouldn't boot. Looked at my Motherboard instructions and would you believe that there were no instructions on how to clear c-mos. I took the MB battery out and rebooted. Nothing again. I took the MB battery out again and put power to the motherboard (I always turn the PSU off when I open the computer). Took power off and put battery back in. Booted up this time.

Though it didn't boot all the way. I got a message saying the <windows root>system32/hal.dll file was missing and to replace it. Had to repair windows. (on only a 2 week instal lol )

Booted up into windows this time and the computer for some odd reason is running a heck of a lot faster.

Ohh.. and before I booted into windows I went into the bios and reset defaults.

My bios doesn't have the option to change the memory timings. Only that option for LTD Bus Frequency.

Don't know what I did wrong but I suspect I did something. lol

**mattlock** · 01-12-2008, 10:28 PM

Well, I'm sorry to hear that you had to reinstall, but glad to hear it's running better.
I just went through the users manual, and you're correct. I couldn't find an option to manually adjust Dram timings. The LDT bus is basically the HTT and I'm surprised dropping it caused the system not to POST.

Anyway for future reference, to clear the CMOS on your board you need to:
Unplug the power cord
Remove the battery
Move the CLRTC jumper (found in the lower right corner of your board) from pins 1-2 to pins 2-3 for about 10 seconds then move it back to pins 1-2.
Replace the battery
Plug back in and power on
Enter BIOS and Load setup defaults

Instructions are on page 1.9 of your users manual.

One last thought, the RAM you have is rated to run at 2.2v but your motherboard is only capable of 2.1v. That might be why it's defaulting to the looser timings.

Are your timings still reported as 5-5-5-18 in Cpuz?

Mycophiles · 01-12-2008, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattlock

Well, I'm sorry to hear that you had to reinstall, but glad to hear it's running better.
I just went through the users manual, and you're correct. I couldn't find an option to manually adjust Dram timings. The LDT bus is basically the HTT and I'm surprised dropping it caused the system not to POST.

Anyway for future reference, to clear the CMOS on your board you need to:
Unplug the power cord
Remove the battery
Move the CLRTC jumper (found in the lower right corner of your board) from pins 1-2 to pins 2-3 for about 10 seconds then move it back to pins 1-2.
Replace the battery
Plug back in and power on
Enter BIOS and Load setup defaults

Instructions are on page 1.9 of your users manual.

One last thought, the RAM you have is rated to run at 2.2v but your motherboard is only capable of 2.1v. That might be why it's defaulting to the looser timings.

Are your timings still reported as 5-5-5-18 in Cpuz?

Thought I looked through the manual pretty thourally. Now I know right. :)

Yes, the ram is still defaulting to 5-5-5-18.

I guess I can look for a bios update but can't think of anything else to do.

**speedster123** · 01-13-2008, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Other Thoughts: If you are having problems with random shutdown and/or blue screens this is do to your ram voltage output. If it is greater than 2.1 it will cause it to be unstable. You need to go into cmos and set it to 1.9 and that really runs the best overall. I had alot of trial and error going on. The board will not support the higher voltage on auto so you have to manually set it.

If you have RAM trouble, check the voltage supplied. The mobo would barely get past POST when I left RAM voltage to auto in dual channel mode; when I manually set it to 1.9, it worked fine. This is using G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2.

Seems like reverse logic, try backing off the ram voltage.

Mycophiles · 01-13-2008, 04:08 PM

I looked through my mb manual and I found out that I had put the dimms that I had on 1a and 1b (and they were detecting) but they should have gone on 1a and 2a.

I changed that. Rebooted windows and ran cpu-z. The memory timings were the same.

Mycophiles · 01-13-2008, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedster123

Seems like reverse logic, try backing off the ram voltage.

The default settings for the ram are supposed to be 2.2v. I have them at 2.1v.

You think I should back off the voltage and see what that does?

**mattlock** · 01-13-2008, 05:14 PM

Are you having stability issues, or just want the memory to run at tighter timings? If you are just looking for tighter timings, there's realy nothing you can do without the BIOS option to set them manually. Lowering the Vdimm is not going to make the RAM timings change.

I think the issue the other poster had was the board was defaulting to 2.1v and the RAM they were using was rated @ 1.9v The increased voltage was likely causing the ram to overheat a little.

01-12-2008, 04:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mycophiles Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 35 OS: Winxp	Memory Timings I'd like to check my memory timeings on my computer because I read during my research for this MB and RAM that the timings default differently than what the timings for the ram should be. The problem is that my MB doesn't have any way of viewing or changing the memory timings. Is there a third party software that does that? Thanks

01-12-2008, 04:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Memory Timings http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php Download and run CPUz. Once it's running go to the memory tab to see your current timings. You would need to enter the BIOS change the memory timings. If you set the timings to tight it will lead to system instability or even a failure to POST. If this occurs simply clear the CMOS, then enter BIOS, load and save the setup defaults. __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!

01-12-2008, 07:14 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mycophiles Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 35 OS: Winxp	Re: Memory Timings Thanks for the reply. I have Crucial Ballistic Ram that has a Cas Latency of 4 and the timing is 4-4-4-12. The CpuZ proggy you directed me to shows that my Cas Latency is set to 5 and the timing.. if thats the 4 numbers below that are set to 5-5-18-24. I think this not good. I'm going to go into bios to check things out but I doubt I'll change anything till I get a bit more of a handle on this. Any advice is welcome. BTW: This Ram = Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel

01-12-2008, 08:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Memory Timings 4-4-4-12 Timing would read as follows: CAS = 4 RAS to CAS delay = 4 RAS Precharge = 4 TRAS = 12 It not uncommon for RAM to recognized at higher timings than rated. In your case, 5-5-5-18 CAS = 5 RAS to CAS delay = 5 RAS Precharge = 5 TRAS = 18 You can go into the BIOS and manually set the timings. If you have a motherboard that allows you to adjust such things. Most retail PCs don't (I.E HP, Gateway, Dell, etc). You might also need to bump the vdimm up a tad bit, but don't exceed 2.1v What motherboard do you have? (Make and Model) Once I have that info I can download the manual and give more specific instruction. Also post a link to the RAM you have if you can. __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free! Last edited by mattlock; 01-12-2008 at 08:36 PM.

01-12-2008, 08:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mycophiles Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 35 OS: Winxp	Re: Memory Timings Heh... I was stupid. Let me tell you about it. First of all I have this motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131174 and I have this ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146565 I went into the bios and the settings for the sdram were set to DDR2 800. I looked at the LDT Bus frequency and it was set to auto. I thought this would be the memory frequency so I set it to 400mhz. I rebooted and it wouldn't boot. Looked at my Motherboard instructions and would you believe that there were no instructions on how to clear c-mos. I took the MB battery out and rebooted. Nothing again. I took the MB battery out again and put power to the motherboard (I always turn the PSU off when I open the computer). Took power off and put battery back in. Booted up this time. Though it didn't boot all the way. I got a message saying the <windows root>system32/hal.dll file was missing and to replace it. Had to repair windows. (on only a 2 week instal lol ) Booted up into windows this time and the computer for some odd reason is running a heck of a lot faster. Ohh.. and before I booted into windows I went into the bios and reset defaults. My bios doesn't have the option to change the memory timings. Only that option for LTD Bus Frequency. Don't know what I did wrong but I suspect I did something. lol

01-12-2008, 10:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Memory Timings Well, I'm sorry to hear that you had to reinstall, but glad to hear it's running better. I just went through the users manual, and you're correct. I couldn't find an option to manually adjust Dram timings. The LDT bus is basically the HTT and I'm surprised dropping it caused the system not to POST. Anyway for future reference, to clear the CMOS on your board you need to: Unplug the power cord Remove the battery Move the CLRTC jumper (found in the lower right corner of your board) from pins 1-2 to pins 2-3 for about 10 seconds then move it back to pins 1-2. Replace the battery Plug back in and power on Enter BIOS and Load setup defaults Instructions are on page 1.9 of your users manual. One last thought, the RAM you have is rated to run at 2.2v but your motherboard is only capable of 2.1v. That might be why it's defaulting to the looser timings. Are your timings still reported as 5-5-5-18 in Cpuz? __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!

01-13-2008, 04:08 PM	#9 (permalink)
Mycophiles Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 35 OS: Winxp	Re: Memory Timings I looked through my mb manual and I found out that I had put the dimms that I had on 1a and 1b (and they were detecting) but they should have gone on 1a and 2a. I changed that. Rebooted windows and ran cpu-z. The memory timings were the same.

01-13-2008, 05:14 PM	#11 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,183 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Memory Timings Are you having stability issues, or just want the memory to run at tighter timings? If you are just looking for tighter timings, there's realy nothing you can do without the BIOS option to set them manually. Lowering the Vdimm is not going to make the RAM timings change. I think the issue the other poster had was the board was defaulting to 2.1v and the RAM they were using was rated @ 1.9v The increased voltage was likely causing the ram to overheat a little. __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!